Quinn points out that we taxpayers purchased the guns in the first place and that all interested citizens of Onslow County legally eligible to purchase and possess firearms should be afforded the opportunity to purchase the county’s surplus firearms should they decide to do so.

I think the sheriff’s motive and intent to offer his department’s surplus handguns for sale, restricted to active and retired law enforcement, was a prudent and responsible decision. Although I certainly cannot speak for or on the sheriff’s behalf, I most certainly believe that the sheriff simply wants to ensure the lawful disposal of his department’s surplus handguns and that those handguns do not eventually wind up in the wrong hands.

For Quinn to suggest or imply that the sheriff’s decision to sell surplus handguns to the public, even a limited public, was predicated on favoritism and special perks for both himself and his friends in the law enforcement community is outrageously insulting and completely unwarranted.

On the other hand, if Quinn can produce factual evidence to substantiate an ulterior motive on the sheriff’s part, I believe many in Onslow County would respectfully suggest he produce it; otherwise his accusation is blatantly false with no basis in fact. If that is the case, Quinn owes Sheriff Brown an apology.

From a taxpayer’s point of view, I would respectfully ask the sheriff to reconsider his decision and make his department’s surplus handguns available to any citizen in Onslow County who meets the legal requirements to lawfully receive and possess firearms and to those citizens in Onslow County who hold valid North Carolina concealed carry handgun permits.

After all, the sheriff, himself obedient to the law, licensed us to carry concealed handguns in his county and trusts us to carry them responsibly and professionally — specifically, because we are law- abiding citizens who find it in our vital personal interests to obey the law.

Frankly, I know of no concealed-carry permittee who has any intent whatsoever of willfully violating Sheriff Brown’s trust and confidence in them. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the concealed-carry community is a community of vetted and responsible citizens, fully eligible to purchase surplus department handguns offered by the sheriff’s department for sale to the public.